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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26509954">Skin Deep</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aviss/pseuds/Aviss'>Aviss</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Awkwardness, Brienne is Oblivious, F/M, Fluff and Humor, Jaime knows how to flirt, Mutual Pining, Strip Club Owner Brienne, Strip Dancing, surprising I know</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-09-17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-09-21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 02:55:39</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Explicit</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>10,479</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26509954</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aviss/pseuds/Aviss</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>When Brienne's boyfriend gives her an ultimatum, sell her strip club if she wants to marry him, she dumps him fully believing no man would want to be with her. Her favourite regular client has just been given the chance to show her how wrong she is.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Hyle Hunt/Brienne of Tarth, Jaime Lannister/Brienne of Tarth, Minor or Background Relationship(s)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>205</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>393</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Another of those this was supposed to be a one-shot that are so normal in this fandom.<br/>The lovely Imber gave me this prompt</p><p> </p><p>  <span class="u">https://spacegayofficial.tumblr.com/post/627898899943784450/uncommonbish-god-i-love-it-when-ultimatums</span></p><p> </p><p>and my brain went, yes, yes, that would be grand, short fic, what is a short fic?</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>In the six months Jaime has been coming to Skin Deep, the only tasteful strip club in King's Landing, this is the first time he has seen the owner really angry. </p>
<p>He came for the first time during his fortieth birthday party at his brother's insistence, and no protest from him made Tyrion believe he really didn't care for semi-naked bodies gyrating around a pole while being furnished with paper tokens, to be exchanged for gold dragons,  by hungry hands. Not even the novelty of a club that catered to men, women, and people of no definition was enough to arouse Jaime's curiosity, though once in there he had to appreciate the option of sitting smack in between both stages and having the chance of ogling men and women equally. </p>
<p>Jaime, to be a contrarian, had chosen to sit at the bar and drink while both Tyrion and Elia hollered at the girls, Addam and Daven's heads swivelling so fast between both stages he was surprised they didn't come unscrewed. It had turned out to be the best decision he'd made that day, and the reason he's become a regular at the place.</p>
<p>He still doesn't look at the dancers when they're on the stage, though he has become friendly with most of them by now, the only person he has any interest in seeing, at least without clothes, is behind the bar.</p>
<p>The owner, Brienne, would look out of place among so many delicate women and carefully sculpted men. She's tall, even taller than Jaime which is no small feat, and built even more solidly than him. She's wide in the shoulders with strong arms and big hands that grip the bottles confidently when she mixes drinks, and the longest legs Jaime has ever dreamed to have around his waist, or astride his face. She also has the bluest eyes he's ever seen and lips that give him bad ideas. The rest of her features are not quite so fortunate, not that he cares if her nose is broken and she has more freckles than there are stars in the sky, Jaime is quite infatuated with her, hopeless as it is since she's in a relationship. </p>
<p>In the past six months, he's come to know her well enough, chatting at the bar during the quiet times late at night. Jaime knows that Brienne inherited the club from her father ten years ago and that instead of selling it for quick cash and sailing through her social worker degree, she injected the rest of her inheritance into making it a safe space for dancers and the most inclusive club in the city while attending classes, working shifts herself if one of her waiters needed the help. There is a photo of her and her father over the bar, both too tall and too wide and smiling in a way he has never seen Brienne do, standing on a boat in deep blue waters that match the incredible colour of their eyes, the name of the boat also Skin Deep.</p>
<p>She's told Jaime, in between rounds of colourful and fruity drinks, about growing up in Tarth and how they moved away when her brother passed away, the pain of staying in the same place he died versus the pain of leaving their history behind. How they came to King's Landing and Selwyn Tarth opened Skin Deep after working as a bouncer on some of the seedier establishments, making up his mind to create at least a safe one, if not to serve as an example, to be a refuge for some of the dancers he had seen exploited. Brienne had been raised there, half ashamed and half proud of her father, the proud part winning out the older she became and understood the world better. </p>
<p>Jaime has been fascinated by her since the first night he came, by her expressive eyes and mobile mouth, and also by her gentle manner with her dancers and waiters. He's seen her laughing with Pia and Hilda, the regular waitresses behind the bar, head thrown back and wide mouth stretched on a huge grin, has seen her concerned when Ygritte, one of the dancers, failed to show and they found she was sick. She sent Pia with some soup in a cab to her place and took her shift behind the bar that night, much to Jaime's delight. He has also seen her angry, putting herself between Satin and some homophobe who had no idea which club he was in and decided to hurl insults at him. Jaime has never been more aroused than when Brienne picked up the idiot by the scruff of his collar and tossed him out of the door, the entire club exploding into a loud cheer. </p>
<p>He's never seen her as furious and disappointed as tonight, though. Brienne's holding herself stiff, her jaw set and her eyes flat, the line of her shoulders taut enough to look painful. She's also responding to Jaime's chatter with monosyllables, and while she's not the chattiest person on earth, she's opened up to him a lot more than this, and even when she doesn't talk she always listens. </p>
<p>Something has happened, and Jaime would bet half his fortune Hyle is involved somehow.</p>
<p>Brienne rarely speaks about her boyfriend, Hyle Hunt, the bland marvel as Peck has dubbed him. The dancers' opinions on Hyle is that he's either the most boring man in the universe or a complete asshole, sometimes both, but they all agree that Brienne deserves better.</p>
<p>"She has better here, if she only knew how to look," Pia had said one day, looking at Jaime pointedly. She stopped flirting with him after a month when she realized Jaime only had eyes for Brienne, changing her strategy from flirting to matchmaking.</p>
<p>"What has <em>he</em> done this time?" Jaime asks for the fifth time when Brienne puts a drink he hasn't ordered yet in front of him. He takes a sip, wincing at the taste, and places the glass back on the bar. "You only put this much gin in the gimlet after a fight with Hyle."</p>
<p>Brienne purses her lips and stares at the drink, silently taking it away from him and dumping it in the sink. So it has been really bad, then. </p>
<p>"Don't worry, you won't have to suffer my horrible drinks anymore," she says, the longest sentence he's got out of her in the entire night. "He's given me an ultimatum. Sell the club and he'll marry me, but he won't propose while I own a strip club." There is bitterness in her tone, but more than that, there is fury.</p>
<p>Jaime has a moment of panic; this place can't be sold to just anyone, not and keep the same ambience and feeling. It can't be sold to a person who won't allow for their dancers to be human and go to the bar, fully clothed, to have drinks between sets and chat about their very normal lives. It can't be sold to someone who will not immediately toss unruly customers out for bothering the dancers, or who would lower their pay to minimum wage, because they already make enough in tips, so they can make more money. Jaime wonders if she will sell it to him; Jaime has the money, more money than he can easily spend, and though he doesn't have the time to manage a club while also managing his own business, he can at least hire someone who will uphold the values of the place. "You can't sell it!" It's what he blurts out, his thoughts plain to hear in his voice. "This place wouldn't be the same without you."</p>
<p>He knows that Hyle has been trying to convince her to sell, even as he refused to set foot in the place. He had no such compunction about going to other clubs with his friends, or so Ygritte had said with a disgusted face, as if it was the male dancers what offended him so much. Or the fact that his girlfriend was the owner and he couldn't paw at the women in here without risking being thrown on his ass like any common leech, and also that Brienne made lots more money than he did. </p>
<p>"<em>I'm not going to sell</em>," Brienne says placing another glass in front of him, the drink sloshing over the rim with the force she's used. This one is still on the side of too strong, but at least doesn't taste poisonous.</p>
<p>"Oh," Jaime says, frowning. If she's not going to sell, then--?</p>
<p>"I have broken up with him," she finally bites out, eyes narrowed at him as if daring Jaime to comment on it. "I don't care what Hyle thinks, or if he is embarrassed to introduce me to his family in case they ask what I do, or if his friends laugh at him. I am not selling my father's club, for him or for anyone, and if no man wants me then so be it." </p>
<p>Jaime has to bite his tongue not to cheer and jump from his stool in happiness because he can tell Brienne is bothered and hurt by it, not just angry. He carefully schools his expression into friendly concern and pointedly doesn't tell her that there is a man who wants her, club and all, right in front of her. She's not going to believe him, and he's not gauche enough to pounce just because she's now single, but the moment her back is turned on him he can let his mouth form the smile that's pushing at the corners and catches Pia's eye, smiling back at him. </p>
<p>He's going to show Brienne that not all men are assholes like Hyle, and he knows he has all the help he needs in the club.</p>
<p>It's time to plan. </p>
<p>…</p>
<p>Even a week after the breakup it feels strange to get home and not find Hyle there, drooling on his pillow and scowling up at Brienne when she makes too much noise and wakes him up in the middle of the night. He didn't actually live there, though he usually spent most nights saying Brienne's place was better than his tiny apartment outside the Dragon Gate, and then complained when she woke him up.</p>
<p>Brienne knows she's better off without him, knows he wasn't the prince charming he believed he was, and that being alone is preferable to being with the wrong person. And yet, she can't help feeling some emptiness where another person should be, can't help but wince at the way the silence reverberates when she comes home during the day and there is nobody to greet her, lukewarm and perfunctory as it was some times. </p>
<p>It's not that Brienne can't be on her own, she has been on her own long enough after her father's passing to know she hates it. But she doesn't hate it more than she hates the idea of selling her club.</p>
<p>She's not going to, not for Hyle and not for any man. Skin Deep is the last link she has to her father, the building itself as familiar as her house, her office at the back as lived in as her own room. Her workers have also become her family, dysfunctional as it might be. She's come to regard Pia and Hilda as her best friends, almost like sisters, Ygritte and Roz are the wild cousins everyone loves and dreads at family reunions, and Satin and Peck the little brothers they all look after. Well, not for Pia who has just started to date Peck and loves to overshare what he doesn't share for money, much to Brienne's embarrassment. </p>
<p>There are also the seasonal workers, the men and women who come because they need urgent cash to finish their studies or to pay an unexpected debt, or because the name of the club has been whispered to them as a good place to work for quick and easy money, and where they will be helped into a more clothed line of work if they want to.</p>
<p>Then there is also Jaime, not that he is anything of hers. He's just a regular at the bar, and Brienne should not even take him into consideration.</p>
<p>It has always felt strange for Brienne to have a regular at her bar, one who smiles at her and likes to try her experiments in cocktail making, one who tells anecdotes about himself and listens to hers attentively. </p>
<p>One she likes maybe more than she should.</p>
<p>She's always believed that any regular in a strip club, even one like hers, would be a sleazeball, Jaime isn't. He's the furthest removed from any sleazeball she's seen, and she's seen a few in her years at the club. From the first time he came in, Jaime had all eyes on him, unsurprisingly since he's possibly the most attractive man Brienne has ever seen. And she manages a strip club. He has dark blond hair silvering at the temples and matching salt and pepper beard, green eyes that crinkle at the corners when he laughs and lines bracketing his distracting mouth. He wouldn't look out of place on top of the stage, even if he's older than her usual dancers, or on the cover of a style magazine, his clothes tasteful and clearly expensive.</p>
<p>It's not his looks what set him apart, though. Jaime doesn't look at the dancers unless they are sitting next to him at the bar and regaling him with anecdotes which he always appears to enjoy, he's learned the names of all men and women at the club and their families, asking with genuine interest about Hilda's children or Satin's and Ygritte's boyfriend, not remotely shocked when he found he was the same person. </p>
<p>"I'm friends with a Martell," had been all his explanation before buying Jon a round. "I should introduce you to Elia's brother."</p>
<p>He's also one of the rare customers who know when to switch to virgin drinks, and who drops more tips at the bar than most stick to the dancers.</p>
<p>"I'm a Lannister, I have plenty," he'd said when Pia commented, as if that name means generosity instead of greed, like it really does.</p>
<p>Brienne would have believed he was lonely, but the first night he came he was with a rowdy group of friends, and he talks about them enough to know he's close to them. He'd also kept his word and brought the promised Martell to the club, along with his wife, something he's been profusely thanked for by Ygritte and Satin. </p>
<p>Brienne still can't understand why he keeps coming back, he can get drinks and companionship anywhere else, but she isn't going to complain because she enjoys his company.</p>
<p>"He's into you, boss," Roz had chuckled one night when Brienne was wondering aloud, and not missing his presence at her bar for the fourth night in a row. "I could put my tits on his face and he'll just ask if I want him to move aside, but you show just a bit of ankle, and he's flustered for the next half an hour."</p>
<p>"You're being ridiculous," Brienne had chided her. Because no man who looks like Jaime wants a woman who looks like Brienne, not when he has every one of the single dancers and patrons at the club, and most of the married ones, throwing themselves at his feet. Then, almost an afterthought. "And I have a boyfriend." Though things had already been rocky by then.</p>
<p>"And now you can have the upgrade," Ygritte had added, not hiding what she thought about Hyle.</p>
<p>Now Hyle's no longer in the picture, but Jaime is. </p>
<p>Not that Brienne knows what to do about that.</p>
<p>…</p>
<p>It's a slow night, for Skin Deep standards, when Jaime gives Brienne the book. </p>
<p>On the stages, Jeyne and Edd are dancing to the enjoyment of assorted patrons, who eagerly plaster the tokens on their bodies while keeping the contact as respectful as possible, one of the unshakable rules of the club. The bar is almost empty, Pia doing her rounds with a half-full tray among the sitting patrons and Hilda checking her son's homework on her tablet now there are no more cocktails to make. </p>
<p>Brienne has looked at the door for the tenth time already tonight, sighing to herself at the gesture. She's not waiting for anyone, or rather, she shouldn't be. While Jaime is a regular customer, he doesn't come every single day and he was in yesterday, or so Pia has told her when they started working. </p>
<p>Brienne definitely wasn't disappointed to have missed him.</p>
<p>It was Brienne's day off, one she had taken to finish fishing out the last of Hyle's belongings in her house, going back home too early and too exhausted after having the same argument with him. </p>
<p>"I've had the club longer than I've been with you," she'd said to Hyle, irritated at his insistence that she was making a mistake. "If you love me, then you fell in love with a strip club owner, I never hid what I did for a living, and you shouldn't need me to change anything to keep loving me."</p>
<p>She didn't add that good people didn't blackmail or gave ultimatums to the ones they loved, and while she didn't doubt that Hyle felt something for her, it wasn't something strong enough to let him put his pride or embarrassment aside. </p>
<p>Whatever lukewarm feelings Brienne had for Hyle have cooled enough with each demand and the final ultimatum that all she feels now is exhaustion and a deep sense of irritation. She knows the relationship was doomed when that's all she can muster after the breakup.</p>
<p>"You look deep in thought," the voice she has definitely not been waiting for says, snapping her back to the present. "Long day?"</p>
<p>"Long week," Brienne says with feeling, but the corners of her mouth curl up without her permission. She's behind a bar, she has to smile at clients, doesn't she? "The usual, Jaime?"</p>
<p>"Please," he says, taking off his jacket and hanging it on the back of his stool, as is his habit, completely uncaring that it probably costs more than most of the bar's furnishings and it can be ruined by a stray drink spilling. It has been ruined before when a drunk client bumped into Hilda as she was carrying her tray, Jaime had only laughed at it with a rueful expression, waving away the client's and Hilda's apologies and offers to pay for dry cleaning saying that if he had enough money to buy the jacket, he certainly could pay to replace it.</p>
<p>Brienne mixes a Winterfell Mule for him, his favourite drink of the last menu she's released, and the one she added to it when she noticed how much he liked the drinks that had ginger beer in them. Jaime takes a sip and hums his enjoyment, smiling at Brienne in that way that makes his eyes crinkle at the corners. "You keep getting better, I didn't think it was possible."</p>
<p>Brienne fights down the blush that wants to paint her cheeks. "Practice," she says airily.</p>
<p>"Well, you can practice some more with this." He places a big and heavy tome on the bar, careful that it stays well away from any spilled droplets.</p>
<p>Brienne googles at the book, the aged cover and broken spine marking the book as one that has been extensively used and loved. It's The Cocktail Maker Creed, a famous book that has been out of print for over a decade, just a few weeks ago Brienne had been moaning to Pia that one copy had gone on sale on a second-hand site but had lasted five minutes there. Brienne had been too slow to get it.</p>
<p>"How did you--?" She asks, hands hovering over the cover, itching to open it but fearful she's misreading the gesture. Maybe Jaime is not intending for her to borrow it. "Can I have a look?"</p>
<p>Jaime chuckles, taking a sip and gesturing with his free hand. "It's yours, you can have as many looks as you want."</p>
<p>"What?" She closes the cover abruptly and looks up at his words. He can't have said that. "Do you know what this book is? How much it costs? I can't accept it!"</p>
<p>Jaime shrugs, unconcerned. "It was part of one of the lots I purchased in the last auction, I would have donated it with the rest of the newer books but I thought you might find it interesting."</p>
<p>Brienne's gaping at him, her eyes huge on her face. She knows Jaime has an antiquities and restoration business, and that he specialises in old and rare books. This one is nothing compared to some of the old Citadel tomes he usually handles, or the incredibly delicate White Book he's famous for having restored when it was found buried in a half-demolished chamber in the old Red Keep but he must know how hard it is to find, must know it fetches a hefty price for collectors. "I can't accept this, Jaime, it's too expensive." Her hands have not moved away from it, though, curved possessively over the spine. "You can't just give it away for nothing."</p>
<p>He smirks then, and it should be forbidden for his mouth to be attractive in any configuration. "I didn't say I'd give it for nothing," he says, and it's teasing, she can hear it in his voice and see it in the way his eyes are dancing with amusement.</p>
<p>"What do you want for it?" She asks leaning forward on the bar, eyes intent on him.</p>
<p>"<em>A kiss.</em>"</p>
<p> "What?" Brienne stumbles back a step. He can't have asked for that. " You want what?" </p>
<p>Jaime blinks and the minute frown that was on his face at her answer disappears, the smile back on his face, a bit dimmer but still there. "Page seventeen, Tarth's kiss, I bet you can make me one."</p>
<p>Slowly, Brienne opens the book and goes to page seventeen, reads over the ingredients, all of them present inside her bar, and nods to herself. It's the work of just a couple of minutes to make it, and when she tries it with her straw, the flavour explodes in her tongue, tart and strong, with an aftertaste of cherry she likes. </p>
<p>"On the house," she says when she places it in front of him. "Tonight you can have anything you want on the house."</p>
<p>He takes a sip and his eyelids close for a moment in enjoyment, his tongue coming out to chase the taste of the drink on his lips. Brienne wonders if she should turn the aircon higher in the club, it's a bit too hot today. "I want all the kisses you want to give me, Tarth."</p>
<p>She flushes and turns back to the book. "I'm cutting you off at three, after that, I'm making you virgin ones."</p>
<p>…</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Thanks everyone for the amazing response, in case anyone else is curious, this is the drink Tarth's kiss is based on<br/>https://quench.me/mixed/blackcherrycaipirinha/<br/>I used to go to a place called The Black Cherry and they were their speciality, and they were amazing!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Jaime looks at the message in his mobile and sighs, rushing back inside his studio to lose himself in his latest commission, the repair of a tapestry depicting the battle of King's Landing during the War of the Two Queens. It's an interesting project, even if he's more specialized in books than textiles, but he's done enough of these that he's consistently sought after and this tapestry dates from close enough to that period to be a challenge.</p>
<p>In his pocket, his phone vibrates again, and again, and again. He ignores it and manages to focus for long enough to clean a good tenth of the image. When he pulls himself back from the zone it's dark outside and he has at least fifty messages to read.</p>
<p>A cursory glance reveals the Skin Deep group have been chatting away and offering suggestion after ridiculous suggestion for the next step in his wooing plan. Jaime doesn't know when he lost control of his life, possibly when he accepted Pia's help finding the perfect gift for Brienne, and it had been <em>perfect</em>. It had been worth the time he spent contacting associates and friends and searching the specialized website, and the money he dropped on it, just to see her shocked expression turning into pure covetousness at the sight of the book, Jaime felt jealous for the first time of an inanimate object, wanted that kind of look to be directed at him. </p>
<p>Of course that had not been enough, not that he had believed it would be.</p>
<p>Then Pia had created the messaging group and now Jaime is bombarded daily with ridiculous ideas and suggestions ranging from expensive cruises to Essos, which Brienne will never accept, to picnics in Baelor's park, which has some merit and he's filed for later. </p>
<p>Peck's tip about the movie is worth exploring. Jaime sends a quick message to quiet down the group and plans. </p>
<p>He's at the club the day before Brienne's day off, and he's done his homework and checked the movie she wants to watch. It's right up his alley, he doesn't even need to lie when he complains. "I don't know what they have against them, it's not emasculating to watch people fall in love and be happy," Jaime says when Brienne brings him a second Tarth's kiss, which he always asks for in the hopes one day he'll get the one he really wants. "I bet you don't have the same silly preconceptions."</p>
<p>"I don't," Brienne confirms, biting her lip in that distracting way she has when she's trying not to laugh at him. "I'm in fact going to watch it tomorrow."</p>
<p>"We should go together then!" Brienne startles at this, looking around as if trying to find an out, and Jaime immediately gives her one. "If you want and are free, I don't want to presume if you're already going with someone. I just thought it would be nice to have someone to comment the movie with."</p>
<p>She turns back to him, a faint flush on her face. "No, it will be fun, you're right," she fixes him with a stern look then. "As long as you promise to be quiet for the duration of the movie."</p>
<p>"I can be quiet," Jaime protests, biting down on the grin that threatens to take over his mouth. "But if it will make you feel better, I promise not to make a comment until dinner."</p>
<p>"What?" she says, and her expression is the same shocked one than the time Jaime asked her for a kiss. Shocked and mistrustful, as if she's expecting someone to jump from the shadows pointing a finger and laughing at her if she assumes it's a date. </p>
<p>It <em>is</em> a date, or at least Jaime wants it to be.</p>
<p>"If I can't speak during the movie I'll have to do it after, why not with food?" He says instead. Behind Brienne, Hilda's rolling her eyes at him but he knows not to push too hard. </p>
<p>"Of course," Brienne says with a tentative smile and Jaime considers it a step in the right direction. </p>
<p>He doesn't mind waiting, not if he can still spend time with her while she catches up with him. </p>
<p>…</p>
<p>Brienne can't remember being this nervous before. </p>
<p>She's waiting for Jaime outside the King's Landing Archeological Museum, where there's a Weapon and Armour on the Age of Heroes exhibition Brienne has been eager to go to. She's been the one to ask Jaime to come with her this time, and she doesn't know why she was so hesitant to, they're friends, aren't they? This is what friends do, ask each other to do things they enjoy together, Jaime has been doing it for weeks now. </p>
<p>There is no need to make it into more than it is, is there?</p>
<p>She can't help but picture his face as she mentioned it the previous night, how it lit up on the most beautiful smile she's ever seen and nodded eagerly.</p>
<p>"It's a date, then," He said and the word had buzzed around Brienne's mind long enough while she tried to actually get the meaning that she lost the chance to reply.</p>
<p>She keeps thinking about it now, standing tall and tense under the shadow of a tree close to the door while she waits for him. Brienne has arrived early, too anxious and impatient to while the time away at home, unable to focus in the book in her hands or the show on the TV, and the only thing going around in her head is whether this is really a date. It feels more like a friendly activity to Brienne, but they have done some date-like activities together in the past few of months since she broke up with Hyle and she hasn't been this nervous. </p>
<p>They did the dinner and a movie that is the most date thing ever the second time they were out together, though the order was inverted and Jaime barely shut up the entire time unless he was stuffing his face on the admittedly excellent food. Brienne had laughed at his comments that night more than she had in the entire previous year with Hyle.</p>
<p>Jaime also insisted on paying, saying that since he was snob enough to take her to such an expensive restaurant it was only fair he'd take care of the check. He also said Brienne was free to pay for dinner another time, but she hasn't taken him up on that yet, unable to get the words out on any of the other outings. </p>
<p>Since that day they've gone out several more times, there was a picnic at Baelor's park where they attended an outdoor performance of the ballad of Duncan and the Just Maid, then there was the day trek around the Kingswood and the sailing competition, all things Brienne have wanted to do for so long she can never say no to him when he suggests them. She doesn't want to, same as she didn't want to say no the week before when they went karting and Brienne soundly beat Jaime, who laughed and insisted on buying her champagne to celebrate. </p>
<p>Brienne put her foot down at shaking and spraying it all over themselves, the bottle still at her place waiting for the perfect opportunity.</p>
<p>"Get Jaime to your place and celebrate climbing all that like a tree and putting the man out of his misery," Ygritte had said the day before.</p>
<p>"<em>We're just friends</em>, he's helping me get over a breakup," Brienne insisted, as she did every time the subject came up, though she really doesn't need much help getting over Hyle. Most of the time she barely remembers him. </p>
<p>"You keep telling yourself that, boss," Ygritte said with an eye-roll. </p>
<p>It feels like her entire staff is trying to push her and Jaime together.</p>
<p>She thinks about that, turning Ygritte's words in her head, still not convinced that they have any merit but Jaime had come in last night, smiled at her like she was the best thing on earth, and called it a date. </p>
<p>Of course Brienne's palms are sweaty and her heart's hammering in her chest, she doesn't have much experience with dates, her relationship with Hyle just happened. They met at university, though they never clicked there, and then happened to meet a couple of times while out with friends and ended up in bed together. Hyle had been of the belief a noisy pub and getting drunk was a nice date, and had dismissed all the more romantic activities because '<em>we're already together, why waste time on that?'</em> and 't<em>hat's what you do with your girlfriends, inst it?</em>'. </p>
<p>Thinking back, Brienne can't understand how they lasted as long as they did, maybe because she spent most of that time working.</p>
<p>She sees Jaime before he sees her, and her heart speeds up in her chest only to almost stop when she realizes he's not alone. Walking next to him is a beautiful redhead who is everything Brienne is not, she's lithe and feminine and has all the right curves in the right places, she can't be older than twenty, with wide blue eyes and smooth skin and a pretty smiling mouth. She has her hand hooked on the crook of his arm and is rolling her eyes at him, Jaime's focused only on her and smiling his wide and happy grin as he walks her to a side entrance. They stop there for a bit, still immersed in their conversation, the familiarity between them obvious as the woman throws her head back, laughing, and Jaime leans forward and places a kiss on her cheek.</p>
<p>Brienne snaps out of it then, taking a step back behind the tree. She shouldn't be staring at them, it's creepy, and she definitely shouldn't be feeling jealous. </p>
<p>She's been right all along, they are friends and there is nothing else to it. </p>
<p>By the time the redhead has disappeared inside the museum and Jaime has located Brienne, bouncing up to her with a grin, Brienne has composed herself, reset her expectations of today's outing and can smile back at him and shake his hand with dry palms.</p>
<p>Jaime stares at her extended hand, his exuberant smile dimming a little as he stops in front of her, way closer than she expected and leaning forward as if he intends to kiss her. Brienne takes a reflexive step back and looks down at her hand, face flaming.</p>
<p>"Hi Brienne," he says, an odd note in his voice. "Hope you weren't waiting long." He takes her hand, gripping it carefully and brushing his thumb over her skin in a way that feels more than friendly. </p>
<p>"No, I just got here," Brienne lies, swallowing harshly against a dry throat, and takes her hand back, noticing that he is the one with damp palms. "Shall we?" she points at the entrance, feeling clumsy and awkward in a way she hasn't in any of the previous times. </p>
<p>He's the one who joked this was a date, why is she the one flustered?</p>
<p>If Jaime notices, he doesn't say a thing, falling into step next to her. "Guess what?" He says as soon as they get to the first exhibit, a reproduction of an old Targaryen armour, the details intricate and delicate enough to make her wonder how anyone could wear those beautiful pieces to battle. "I just got us seats to Catelyn Stark's lecture!"</p>
<p>Brienne turns to stare at him wide-eyed. "How?" That lecture has been sold out for weeks, Brienne knows because she tried to get tickets and was disappointed to find there weren't any left. </p>
<p>"I have contacts," he says looking at her with a ridiculous, over the top wink and Brienne can't help the way her mouth tilts up, her smile becoming real in the face of his enthusiasm. </p>
<p>They are friends and this might not be a date but it's still everything she wants, asking for more is greedy and it wouldn't have crossed her mind if the guys at the club hadn't insisted so much he's interested in her. He's not, not when he can have a pretty young thing hanging from his arm and beaming at him, and Brienne's not disappointed that in the end, Jaime is just like the rest of men. </p>
<p>She shouldn't let her friend's romantic notions fill her head, that never ends well. </p>
<p>They are friends, that's enough. </p>
<p>…</p>
<p>"<em>She shook my hand</em>," Jaime moans into his drink while Pia and Hilda laugh at him. It's Brienne day off and Jaime is there, sitting in her club surrounded by her employees and friends and missing her. Maybe she's really not interested, though he's seen her looking and there have been times when she was blushing and looking at his mouth, that Jaime was convinced he could just lean forward and kiss her and she'd kiss back, then those moments pass and he's back to wondering if he really is so out of practice flirting that she's not realized yet. If she wasn't interested she would just reject his advances, wouldn't she? "You all suck as wingmen and Brienne is the most oblivious person on earth. What do I have to do, dance naked in front of her so she realizes I want her!"</p>
<p>He groans into his drink when he sees the look Pia and Hilda exchange. "That's an excellent idea, Jaime. Roz! Satin! Come here!"</p>
<p>Jaime looks from one to the other and shakes his head vehemently. "No way. I am not doing <em>that</em>."</p>
<p>Famous last words.</p>
<p>…</p>
<p>"This whole thing is ridiculous," Jaime says with a pointed look at Ygritte and Satin, who have drawn the short stick to be the ones to help him prepare. They don't seem to mind, though, if the glee on Ygritte's face as she handed him the g-string before and the careful and meticulous way Satin's applying the oil everywhere are any indication.</p>
<p>"It was your idea, Jaime," she says, not bothering to contain her amusement while he dresses in the shirt and trousers she gives him.</p>
<p>"It was a joke!" Just an offhand comment made in his desperation after their last date had failed to woo Brienne, had only managed to make her feel a bit more distant than before. Jaime remembers his dismay when Brienne shook his hand as he had been going for a kiss, excited to have bribed Sansa into giving him tickets to her mom's lecture, which had been sold out for ages. It will be worth the hours of overtime restoring the original gown worn by the Queen in the North during her coronation, a commission he had been reluctant to accept before, just for Brienne's glee when he told her, all her rigidity and awkwardness of the first minutes falling away. She had been beaming by the time they got to the lecture hall and Jaime introduced her to the Starks.</p>
<p>It had also been good to see Sansa, so excited she was when he passed her Myrcella's message that she didn't even stay for the lecture. Jaime was happy that now she was an adult and had come into her trust fund, his niece was also distancing herself from the family manipulations and renewing her old friendships.</p>
<p>And thinking about family, he needs to make sure this never gets back to his brother or he'll never live it down.</p>
<p>He looks at himself, the shirt is too tight in the shoulders and too short in the arms and the trousers look almost painted on him. "How do you move in this kind of outfit?"</p>
<p>"They don't stay on for long enough to be uncomfortable," Peck says, strolling inside with a drink for Jaime, who knocks it back with a grimace. He hates shots, too strong and they taste awful, he's more of a cocktail person, but today he'll drink anything they put in front of him. </p>
<p>He needs liquid courage if he's really going to do this.</p>
<p>"She's two minutes away!" Pia says, sticking her head backstage and giving Jaime a slow once over, wolf-whistling at the end. "If this doesn't work, you can always get hired."</p>
<p>Jaime glares half-heartedly at her. "Thanks, I like my current job, but I'll keep that in mind." She's just being kind, anyway, Jaime is not as graceful as all of them on the stage. Oh, he's flexible and coordinated enough that he's not going to embarrass himself, and he has the needed core strength thanks to his training routines, he's just too self-conscious to look natural on the stage. He's had to remind Roz several times he's no sexy dancer, he's not going to use the pole at all, he's just an art and antiquities restorator head over heels for the densest strip club owner in Westeros. "I don't think I can do this," he says, taking a step back from the stage. </p>
<p>This is ridiculous, he should just go to Brienne, tell her straight up that he really wants to date her and kiss if she says yes. </p>
<p>"Yes, you can," Satin, the traitor, puts another shot in his hand and gives him a push once he's downed it, and then the first notes of the song he's chosen start blaring out of the speakers, the spotlight comes on and it's too late to back down. </p>
<p>"This better work or you are all fired!" he says, to a chorus of laughter as he takes the few steps separating him from the stage.</p>
<p>…</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Chapter 3</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>for the song Jaime dances, I want to thank all the people in the JB Transformative Werk Discord who gave me suggestions for the song, I ended up with sdwolfpup's suggestions of Alesso's I Wanna Know https://open.spotify.com/track/2kYqdSlrtovVMMIn6ykzba?si=_E6XxQ47QFyLL2Vq42DQRg which I found very catchy. <br/>Thanks everyone who's commented, I hope you like the conclusion. And especially thanks to my enabler and prompter Imbereader, who dropped the prompt in my lap and then encouraged me until I finish it. <br/>My usual disclaimer, I know about dancing about as much as I know about antiquities or restorations, which is to say just what I saw on youtube. The trouser trick looks funny but dangerous up close 😂</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Brienne approaches her club with an odd sense of trepidation she's never had before. </p>
<p>She's being ridiculous and she knows it; it's her club and it's her birthday, Pia and Hilda would not have brought her here today for something horrible. They are her friends, they are not going to want to humiliate her and she needs to let go of the old hurt from when she was an unpopular teenager. </p>
<p>She knows what's going to happen the moment she crosses that door, the guys have been threatening her with a party for years, not quite a surprise since she knows they are doing it, why else would they have called her in while the club's not open yet. It's her birthday, the one day she always takes off no matter what, the previous two years Brienne was out with Hyle celebrating, nothing worthy of notice, not really, just a dinner she booked for them and some time together in bed. Again, nothing to write home about.</p>
<p>She might also be nervous because Jaime is going to be there with the rest of her friends and she hasn't seen him since that day at the museum. Brienne's been wondering since that day whether what she thought she saw was right, Jaime and that pretty girl. She had assumed they were together but afterwards, when she had time to think about it, she didn't see anything that meant they were more than friends. Jaime had called it a date, and then, he'd leaned forward to--maybe she's wrong, maybe he wasn't going to greet Brienne with a kiss and it wasn't a date and she didn't mess up. </p>
<p>She's wanted to ask since then, but Jaime has been conspicuously absent in the club and she's reluctant to bring this up by message. She hopes she can have the chance today.</p>
<p>She opens the door to a dark room, expecting the lights to go on automatically and everyone to jump from behind the bar like the time they did the surprise for Pia's graduation, but nothing happens for a whole minute. Brienne double checks her mobile, the screen glaring in the darkness, and yes, it's the time they said in the message. </p>
<p>"Hello?" she asks, voice echoing in the empty room.</p>
<p>As if that was the cue they were waiting for the light on the left stage goes on and the first notes of one of her favourite songs fill the room. Someone, a man, slowly walks from the backstage, and Brienne groans, appalled. This better not be what they got her as a birthday surprise or it will be a terrible one; Brienne's not interested in seeing a man stripping for her, she has to audition enough new dancers that it stopped being awkward years ago and it tipped all the way into boring.</p>
<p>She's about to say something when she recognizes the figure walking to the spotlight and her jaw drops, a flash of heat spreading in her belly. </p>
<p><em>Jaime</em>. </p>
<p>That's Jaime advancing until he's standing under the spotlight, the harsh light painting his hair gold and throwing his features into sharp relief,  his eyes fixed on Brienne and two spots of colour on his face and staining his ears. He's dressed in one of Peck's shirts, a deep burgundy one opened at the collar and straining at the seams, the trousers tight around his muscled legs and leaving little to the imagination. Her mouth dries and there is a sound coming from her throat she lacks the capacity to name when he begins swaying to the beat, his movements slow and deliberate, eyes never leaving Brienne's. </p>
<p>So that's what he's been doing this last week, she thinks inanely. </p>
<p>Brienne can see Ygritte's style in the way his fingers move down his neck, dipping slightly at the hollow on the base of his throat just to follow along the open collar of the shirt, hips swaying to the rhythm. Brienne wants to assess his dance on a professional capacity, the only chance she has to keep her head for the next four minutes and not climb onto the stage like one of the unruly customers she usually kicks out of the club, but she already knows it's not going to be possible. Jaime is not uncoordinated, he might not be as smooth as a professional dancer but he moves with grace and precision, Brienne's eyes fixed on his hands as they open one button of the shirt, then another. She licks her lips, lifting her eyes to see Jaime's still fixed on her, his mouth slightly parted, Brienne takes an unconscious step in the direction of the stage.</p>
<p>He's in no hurry to remove the clothes, opening tantalising glimpses of skin as he moves, widening his posture in a way she knows what it means. Brienne would have left the aircon on if she'd known this was waiting for her, she can sense her skin flushing darker, hot to the touch where she can't help but feel her own face as Jaime lowers his stance and finishes opening the shirt, not removing it but letting it hang from his shoulders as he starts grinding his hip. </p>
<p>
  <em>This is definitely not a thing friends do. </em>
</p>
<p>Jaime's hands move to the opening of his trousers, hips still moving in the same maddeningly circles. No, not the opening, the waistband, because Brienne has seen the next movement enough times to know what's coming, and she doesn't know if she can keep herself from climbing Jaime there, on the stage, and doing things that should not be done in public if he pulls the trousers off.</p>
<p>"Oh Gods, stop!" Brienne breathes out, trying to work some moisture into her mouth, swallowing and licking her lips. "<em>Stop</em>!" She takes a few stumbling steps in the direction of the stage at the same time Jaime freezes, his smile quickly replaced by a frown. He lets his hands drop to the sides and straightens, pulling his shoulders forward and turning his head to glare at the backstage, where several figures are piled by the entrance. </p>
<p>"Brienne?" He asks and now she's close enough to hear the uncertainty in his voice, to properly see his expression. </p>
<p>Brienne knows rejection, knows the sting of it and knows how it looks. She's apparently as thick as the Wall if Jaime is half-naked in front of her now and she's been thinking all the time they were just friends and not dating. She can still make it right, though. She clambers up the stage ungracefully and rushes to his side, placing both her hands on his face. It feels hot under her palms, his eyes wide and impossibly green. She makes an effort not to look away from them, not to look at all that skin on display, and gathering all her courage, places a soft kiss on his mouth.</p>
<p>"Not here," she says softly against his lips, her voice just for the two of them, the chorus of hollers from the peanut gallery almost deafening. "If you are going to be my present, I'm not unwrapping you in public." Brienne raises her voice so everyone else hears them. "Thanks guys, have a drink on me before opening, Jaime and I have a bottle of champagne waiting at my place."</p>
<p>When she pulls back to look at his face again all the uncertainty and hurt are gone, replaced by the kind of hungry look she has never thought would be directed to her. </p>
<p>Without touching too much, Brienne closes his shirt and haphazardly does a couple of buttons to keep him decent before she grabs his hand and drags him out of the club.</p>
<p>…</p>
<p>Brienne's place is nothing like Jaime had imagined before, and he can admit he has thought about being there before, it's tiny and chaotic and cramped, with overfilled bookshelves and mismatched pieces of furniture and a big bay window that bathes the entire place in sunlight. And the most important thing, it's just a couple of minutes walk from the club.</p>
<p>He's still not sure of what he's feeling, not when the maelstrom of the past five minutes hasn't completely settled and he knows his ears are still burning in embarrassment. It had all felt so strange, so surreal, when he was up on the stage almost blinded by the light and trying to remember what Ygritte and Satin had taught him. </p>
<p>He had known where Brienne was, though she was in the shadows and he could not make out her features, Jaime had kept looking at her the way they had told him to, maintaining what he hoped was eye contact to draw her in, and had seen how she swayed forward almost against her will. Even while he felt clumsy and awkward, and the eyes he could feel on him from the backstage didn't help, he had pressed on until Brienne had stopped him, then his heart had fallen in dismay only to soar when she had kissed him, soft and hesitant and nowhere near enough for what he wants but perfect nonetheless.</p>
<p>And now they are at her place, and Jaime wants nothing more than to push Brienne against the cushions of her tan leather couch and settle in her lap to keep on kissing her, or for her to do it he's not picky, instead the short walk seems to have sapped their courage and they are just standing there, hands still clasped together and staring at each other. </p>
<p>He finds the last reservoir of determination inside of him and lifts himself on his tiptoes to kiss Brienne, he makes it deep this time, open-mouthed and hungry and Brienne lets a soft noise against his mouth while her hand clench around his. He walks her back until her legs touch the couch, then it's just a question of breaking the kiss and giving her a slight push. Brienne lets herself fall with a startled exclamation, lips spit slick and red to match the splotches taking over her pale skin, and Jaime takes a few steps back. </p>
<p>"I didn't finish the dance," he says with a lot more confidence than he's feeling. It's much different here where he can see Brienne's every expression and there are no shadows for him to retreat to, but it is actually much better since <em>he can see her</em>. "I heard it's your birthday, and the birthday girl deserves a dance."</p>
<p>Brienne's eyes are wide and blown, her mouth parted on the exhale and she bites her lips without taking her eyes from him. "We're not that kind of club, Jaime."</p>
<p>"Good thing we're not in the club then." They stay like that for a few breathless heartbeats, just staring at each other with the silence stretching between them, expectation thick in the air. Then Jaime chuckles, feeling silly, and the tension snaps. "Oh yes, music. I don't think I have that song anywhere in my playlist." </p>
<p>He let the professionals choose it for him, though he put his foot down at the idea of the kind of sexy songs Roz favours. This was about telling Brienne he wanted her and not just in his bed, though he intends to make sure she knows he wants her there as well.</p>
<p>"I do, but a true professional can dance to any song," Brienne teases before she takes her mobile out, looking down from Jaime as she connects it and the first notes of the song play out again between the two of them. </p>
<p>He lets his smile curl up lopsidedly, lowering his lids as he begins to slowly sway. "Oh, but this is not just any song, this one's for you." </p>
<p>He starts mouthing the words at Brienne and she snorts at being called a beauty, the way he knew she would. She's not, not objectively, and yet Jaime's not lying. She does light up his dark, and she's the one he wants to see waking up next to him. </p>
<p>He thinks she's finally believing this.</p>
<p>He can't remember now all the moves he used in the club but he knows he's overdressed and too far from Brienne, he undoes the two buttons she took pains to redo and this time he lets the shirt fall completely to the floor and takes a step in her direction, Brienne's eyes roaming all over his chest and face, her lips abused and begging to be kissed again. </p>
<p>Not yet. </p>
<p>He moves his hands over his torso the way Satin taught him and hopes he's not the one blushing now, and takes another step in her direction. There's still a couple of feet of space between the two of them, and Brienne is not extending her hands to touch him. In fact, her hands are clenched so tight on her own knees her knuckles are white. Somehow the fact that it's taking her a conscious effort to not touch relaxes him, his moves becoming more natural as he pushes his hands slightly inside the waistband of his trousers as he bends his knees a bit and starts that little grind Brienne had stopped before. He does that for a moment, a bit of a tease, then closes the remaining distance slowly until he can place his legs on the outside of hers and grounds down, still not touching, hands now sliding down to rest on his own tights as he makes the motions wider and gets lower, eyes never wavering from Brienne's.</p>
<p>Peck said to turn his ass to her here but Jaime's not sure he can do that gracefully, he also doesn't want to break eye contact or miss the way she keeps alternatively licking and biting her lip so he makes sure to open the tabs the way both Satin and Peck insisted he couldn't forget, straightens his legs and leans forward. </p>
<p>Brienne's hands press against his chest, her eyes sparkling this close. "I wouldn't do that," she says, and her voice is raspy and dripping with amusement. "Unless you want to hit me on the face with the trousers."</p>
<p>Jaime closes his eyes and takes his hands off the tabs as if burned, remembering Peck's voice. <em>'This is the best for the stage, the trousers just fly away. If it's one on one, then get them to help.'</em> With a deep breath, he grabs Brienne's hands where they still rest on his chest, warm and light, and moves them down until they reach the waistband, hooking her long fingers around the belt hooks and loosening his stiff posture. </p>
<p>His estimation for the dancers has gone up in the past week, he can't imagine doing this every night in front of many other people, though it might be more nerve-wracking for him because Brienne knows more about what he's doing than him and he really cares what she thinks about it. Jaime can no longer remember what was his next move, not when he's so close to Brienne he can see every single freckle on her face and her lips are just there. He dips down and kisses her again, a quick press of his mouth to hers that has her hands pressing against his waist, still hooked on his trousers, and together they manage to pull and push and tear in what is possibly the worst performance she has ever witnessed. Brienne doesn't mind, her eyes blown and her breath hot against his neck once she gets her hands on his bare thighs, moving them up glacially slow, tentatively, her lips parted and inviting.</p>
<p>It's the easiest thing in the world to lean down and kiss her, to let himself sink into her and properly straddle her lap, his hands on her face. </p>
<p>"You're not supposed to touch when you're dancing," Brienne says against his mouth, her hands stroking all the skin they can reach. </p>
<p>"Oh, I guess you wouldn't hire me then." He pulls away from the kiss briefly to catch his breath and Brienne presses her mouth against his neck, making him shiver against her.</p>
<p>"Not for the club, no."</p>
<p>They keep kissing even when the song has finished and some other has taken its place, not that they care, Jaime settled on Brienne's lap and her hands greedily mapping all they can reach, moving up and down his back, pressing him against her body. She's still fully clothed, her shirt rubbing against his bare skin and the denim of her trousers rough against his thighs, and Jaime wants to get his own hands on her skin but can't think of moving away or breaking the kiss either. She moves her hands lower then, past the tiny strip of cloth of the awful g-string he's wearing until her hands settle on his ass, pushing him forward against her, his half-hard cock rubbing against her. </p>
<p>Jaime breaks the kiss then, arousal building quick, and moans. </p>
<p>"You're overdressed," he says, reluctantly standing up on legs that don't feel as steady as they should and takes a step back so she can do the same. She doesn't, she just pulls her shirt over her head in one quick move, Jaime's mouth dries at her revealed chest, covered in constellations he wants to map with fingers and tongue, and braless, and kicks off her shoes, removing her jeans and throwing them to the side before she beckons Jaime back into her lap. </p>
<p>He goes eagerly, sinking back into kisses as he grinds down against her, pressing bare skin against bare skin now, hands covering her small breasts as if they were made to fit there. She shudders when he rubs his thumb over her nipple, her own fingers clenching on his hips. It's not the slow seduction Jaime had imagined or the frantic fucking he desperately wants, but it's somehow perfect for them to just kiss and kiss and kiss on the couch. At some point Brienne tilts to one side, Jaime's mouth and teeth pressed to her long neck, and they end up half lying on their sides on a couch too small and narrow for the two of them, legs hanging over the armrest. This is even better, now Jaime can get his hand inside her knickers after feeling how the cloth is soaking wet, can slide his fingers between her folds and press them to her clitoris and enjoy her shaking against him, her gulping breaths as he rubs it for a minute before moving his hand further down until he can press his fingers inside of her, where she's hot and dripping. </p>
<p>"Fuck," she exhales, tilting her hips against him to give him better access, head thrown against the other armrest and her flaxen hair in complete disarray. Like this, spread flushed and open under him, Brienne is the most compelling thing he's ever seen. He wants to replace his hand with his mouth, taste every inch of her and then do it all over again, but the couch is small and he can always do that once they relocate to the bed.  </p>
<p>He kisses her panting mouth as he keeps fingering her, her keening noises and the way she trembles and scrunches her eyes tight tells him she's getting close, he covers her breast with his other hand and presses his thumb against her clit, not rubbing just pressing, and Brienne comes, her hands clenching spasmodically on his ass and back. "Wait," she moans when he goes to take his hand away, "Don't stop." He plunges his fingers back in, groaning as he feels the tiny motions of her hips chasing her second orgasm. He can't stop looking at her and her breathy moans, how they climb in pitch and increase in frequency until she clenches around his fingers and the tension in her body snaps. He takes his hand away then and goes back to kissing her slack mouth, dangerously close to coming himself just from that, especially once she starts kissing back and one of her hands curls around his cock. "Is this alright?" she asks, and Jaime would have given a very enthusiastic answer if he could articulate anything more than a moan, but it seems to get the point across. </p>
<p>Brienne pushes until Jaime's back is against the cushions and she's the one kissing and stroking him now, her incredible eyes looking at him as if she still can't believe he's there. It's over embarrassingly quick, he's not a teenager and should have more self-control, but the pressure of her grip and the way she rubs her thumb over the head of his cock, and the deep and filthy kisses that don't let up, have Jaime coming over her hand in less time than it takes for whatever song it's playing to change. </p>
<p>Afterwards, they lay there boneless and still kissing for a while, then Brienne stands up and disappears inside a room, the running water tells Jaime it's the bathroom. When she emerges, she's disposed of the last of the clothing, and stands there in front of him naked and perfect, skin still flushed after their activities. </p>
<p>He stands from the couch and goes to her, finally getting rid of his own underwear. He presses a quick kiss to her cheek on his way to the bathroom to clean and hears her rummaging in the other room. The bottle of champagne Jaime gave her the day they were karting is chilled and opened, two glasses already full next to it. </p>
<p>She waits for him to join her by the table before she hands him a flute. </p>
<p>"A toast for the birthday girl," he says, clinking their glasses together. "Many happy returns."</p>
<p>They drink, staring into each other's eyes. "As happy as this one," she says, eyes sliding to the side, and she starts to bite her lower lip again. A nervous tell. "I hope you'll be there to share it."</p>
<p>"Definitely," he says, with feeling. "Though I'm not dancing next year." </p>
<p>She barks a startled laugh, looking back at him appraisingly. They are still both naked, Jaime should not feel like blushing after they have already gone one round at the memory of his dance at the club.</p>
<p>It worked, that's the important bit. It got them here.</p>
<p>She's still laughing when she kisses him again. "Then you'll have to think of something else." </p>
<p>...</p>
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